Simplifying the code is a great idea, but it will never happen. Too many special interests will kill it.

— Gary Adamson

I find it interesting that one of the first things on the table in the talk of tax reform is a reduction or removal of the mortgage interest deduction. For many, myself included, this is the primary tax deduction. I would favor a flatter tax system. Give everyone a standard deduction, as available now for family and dependents, and charge a straight percentage. As far as raising revenue, wouldn't getting rid of some subsidies and tax breaks generate more revenue? Do we really need to provide BP or Exxon tax incentives to drill for oil?

While I think tax reform is sorely needed, given how hard the various special interests will lobby the bought-and-paid-for Congress, this legislation will go nowhere.

— Ritch Gallagher

"Simplifying" the tax code without reducing revenues is going to take many years of negotiations. Until then, let's pass a jobs bill.

— Doug Larson

There is nothing terribly complex about income taxes. The reality is that nobody wants to pay more, but if we are going to fix the country's situation, everybody is going to have to pay a little more, and nobody gets out of that.

— Jack Herron

Letters to the Editor:

Another view writer Steve Wamhoff and most Democrats are always saying we need to raise taxes and that we need more income. This is wrong. We have a spending problem — not an income problem ("Tax code needs to raise more money").

According to data released in May, the Treasury's income hit $406.7 billion in April, a 28% increase over the same month the year before. The total individual income taxes collected in April was $240 billion, a 35% increase over April of last year. Thanks to this increase, the government ran a surplus of $112.9 billion in April.

Unfortunately, in the first seven months of fiscal year 2013, the federal government has run a deficit of $487.6 billion. This is all to put into perspective that we have enough coming into the Treasury. We just spend too much.

Mark Goldstein; Boca Raton, Fla.

Since 1949, I have filed ever more complex tax forms as I worked my engineering career, saved and invested until full retirement in 2008.

Ideally, every citizen, other than the truly disabled, would have a responsibility to pay no more or less in taxes than received in benefits, after deducting a reasonable 3% for federal, state, county and city administrative costs. The best solution is an across-the-board 15% federal tax and 10% combined state, county and city tax, with no tax deductions. In summary, a person with $1 million annual income would pay $250,000 in total taxes, and a worker with a $20,000 income would pay $5,000.